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Office at Springbrook (photo: AJ Morey)

About Listen Play Counseling




At Listen Play Counseling, I believe that
  • to listen is to understand, validate, care
  • to play is child's work--and a forgotten way-of-being for many adults
  • relationships make strength, beauty, resilience--the weave of the basket, the harmonies and rhythms of music, wherever people gather
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Todd Hedinger, LPC (photo: AJ Morey)
Listen Play Counseling was founded in 2015 by Todd Hedinger, LPC.
  • PhD from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 2000
  • Licensed Professional Counselor (Virginia Dept. of Health Professions, Board of Counseling, license number 0701005713)
  • Certified in various modalities; trauma-informed; trained in EMDR
  • Member of International Association of Trauma Professionals
  I first started provided counseling services in 1987. I've served children, teens, adults, couples, and families, in clinics, homes, schools, community mental health centers, and crisis settings.
Philosophy
Listen Play Counseling
The counseling relationship is the foundation for positive growth and learning. Through listening and play, I get to know you. Over time, you learn and grow yourself into the change you want to be. It's true that therapy can be challenging, but in a context of play, trust, care, and belief, much good can take place to offset the hard stuff, to make it easier, to make it worthwhile--to grow in joy and meaning!
Processes
Listen Play Counseling
For kids, play is the process. Play therapy follows the child's interests without trying to set an agenda. This type of therapy is open and accepting. The goals are to help children improve their abilities to express their needs, and to help caregivers learn to follow their children--to better understand and appreciate the world as their child sees and experiences it.

For adults, listening is the process. My listening is informed (Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy will always be in the background). At its heart, listening therapy is the same as play therapy--open and accepting, with the goals of helping people improve their ability to express their needs and to live more genuinely, with intention ... to be able to say who you are and what you choose.
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*PLEASE NOTE:  I used to practice equine-assisted psychotherapy in conjunction with a barn located in Linville, VA, using the eagala method. In 12/2020, the eagala Board of Directors summarily dissolved the eagala ethics committee without notifying membership, and I protested those actions. In 11/2021, I ceased practicing equine-assisted psychotherapy; I currently do not practice any formal animal-assisted modalities.